From my worship journal

From my worship journal

I praise you, Lord, for what will come today: the planned and the unexpected, the accomplishments and the interruptions, the painful and the pleasant. You, Lord God, are my shield, my strength and my stronghold, always there to protect, provide and carry me through whatever challenges you allow. You are the light, shining into my life. You are all I need for today.

You will do what is best in your faithfulness, in your goodness, in your wisdom, in your love, in your righteousness, in your grace and in your power.

[This devotional (written years ago) is especially appropriate for me today, as I am sending it from my hospital bed after having an incident of “Atrial Flutter,” another adventure with God. This caused my blood pressure to go way down and my pulse way up, resulting in a trip to the emergency room. There I got an infusion of drugs that corrected the destructive rhythms, which could have caused blood clots resulting in a stroke or worse. They don’t know what caused it, but said i “lucked out” in having it straighten out so quickly. But no luck involved, only our gracious God answering prayer. Will be taking some meds to prevent it again.]

I praise you, Lord, for the privilege of being weak, of resting in your might—there is so much out of my control, while all is within yours. You know what you are doing, you have a plan, you are moving all to a conclusion, bringing it down to an end, from which all will then expand into eternity, filling the universe with good, righteous, godly and gracious beings, acts, and events. Because you are the Almighty One, no one can stop you, no one can thwart you.

I praise you for your Word and for the wonder of meditating on it, having it trickle down into my being to bring cleansing, insight, transformation and joy, for you are the infinite One, always having more to reveal to us of your Great and Gracious character.

I praise you now for what you will show today, do today, provide today. May I give you glory all through this day, Lord, by choosing to obey what I know to be true, by trusting you, praising you in and for all things, delighting in my weaknesses, rejoicing in your strength and exalting in your righteousness, wisdom and power.

I bow before you now in worship, I will rise up in surrender, wanting to walk with you in obedience and godly fear, desiring to bring you glory before the seen and unseen hosts. Help me to do this consistently through the day, choosing in each event to trust you by offering the sacrifice of thanksgiving in all that comes. Amen.